The process by which Simon became an internationally regarded jazz
musician began in the small coastal town of Cardón, Venezuela, where he
grew up surrounded by the sounds of Latin and Caribbean music. Born in
1969, Simon credits his father, Hadsy, for developing his passion for
music and supporting him and his two brothers, Marlon and Michael, to
become professional musicians.
He attended the Philadelphia
Performing Arts School, graduating at 15, then received a music
scholarship from the University of the Arts where he studied classical
music with concert pianist Susan Starr. Later he transferred to the
Manhattan School of Music where he studied jazz piano with Harold Danko.
Upon arriving on the New York jazz scene in 1989, his
reputation as a pensive, rhythmically astute, versatile player caught
the ear of noted musicians Greg Osby, Jerry Gonzalez, Bobby Hutcherson,
Herbie Mann, Kevin Eubanks and Paquito D’Rivera, all of who would later
employ him. In 1989 Simon took the piano chair in Bobby Watson’s
influential group
Horizon (1989-94), later moving to the Terence Blanchard Group (1994-2002).
Simon made his first recording as a leader in 1994 (
Beauty Within, Audioquest), giving birth to the Edward Simon Trio–- the same year he took third place in the
Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. Since then he founded several other jazz ensembles such as: the
Edward Simon Quartet,
Ensemble Venezuela and
Afinidad. Today, the
Edward Simon Trio has become an established voice with five recordings and recent performances at such well-known jazz venues as the
Village Vanguard,
Jazz Bakery and
Casa del Jazz.
Fueled
by a strong desire to break boundaries through improvised music, in
2000 Simon co-founded the quartet Afinidad with saxophonist/composer
David Binney, which includes bassist Scott Colley and drummer Antonio
Sanchez.
Afinidad's mission is to create and perform eclectic
contemporary American music with a focus on jazz, reflecting a wide
range of musical influences such as Pop, Brazilian, Latin American and
contemporary classical music. With this ensemble he produced two
critically acclaimed recordings:
Afinidad (Red Records, 2001) and
Oceanos (Criss Cross, 2007). In 2008,
Chamber Music America awarded Simon a
New Works: Creation and Presentation Program grant (2008-09) to compose and present
Sorrows and Triumphs,
a work for Afinidad and special guest artists guitarist Adam Rogers,
vocalist Gretchen Parlato and percussionist Rogerio Boccato.
At the same time, Simon has become increasingly interested in the folk music of his native land. In 2003 he founded
Ensemble Venezuela,
an outlet for exploring the marriage between jazz and Venezuelan music
through new works and arrangements of works by Venezuelan masters. Two
years later he was awarded a second grant from
Chamber Music America to compose and perform the
Venezuelan Suite,
a work that crosses the barriers between jazz, chamber music and
Venezuelan folk music. Considered by some to be his most important work
to date, the Venezuelan Suite inspired the creation of a series of
abstract paintings by artist Ellen Priest: "Jazz Paintings on Paper:
Improvisations on the
Venezuela Suite."
Simon has received Fellowships in Music Composition from the
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (2005), the
State of Florida (2007) and the
New York Foundation for the Arts (2008).
He has served as faculty at the
New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, the
City College of New York and the
University of the Arts.
He has taught master classes and clinics at music conservatories and
universities around the world and continues to teach piano and
improvisation at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. He has
been honored on two different occasions (1999, 2004) for this work with a
Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Service to Jazz Education from the
International Association for Jazz Education.
In 2008 Simon had the rare opportunity to share his knowledge and
experience with fellow Venezuelans. Thanks to a grant from the
J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and The
U.S. Department of State, he was a visiting professor at the
Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales in Caracas, Venezuela.
Simon has recorded 10 critically acclaimed albums as leader, including two
New York Times Top Ten Jazz Records of the Year:
Edward Simon (1995) and
Simplicitas (2005). He has appeared as guest artist on more than 50 recordings, including Paquito D'Rivera's
Grammy Award winning
Funk Tango (
Best Latin Jazz Album, 2007) and several Grammy Award nominated albums.
His
performing career spans 20 years of international touring as pianist
with prominent artists and ensembles. His recent collaborations include
Don Byron,
Miguel Zenon,
Luciana Souza,
Paquito D’Rivera and
John Patitucci.
In 2010 Simon was named
Guggenheim Fellow by the
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He is currently a member of the
SFJazz Collective,
a prominent musician/composer jazz ensemble dedicated to creating new
work and highlighting the music of historically significant jazz
composers of the modern era. The Collective is comprised of “eight of
the most in-demand” (
New York Times) artists performing today.